


to you, i bequeath all of our yesterdays

by intrepidment



Category: Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, POV Third Person, Pining, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-26
Updated: 2017-07-26
Packaged: 2018-12-07 08:40:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11619969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intrepidment/pseuds/intrepidment
Summary: The progression of something more between Peter and Michelle, as seen by everyone else.





	to you, i bequeath all of our yesterdays

**i**

During morning assembly, Michelle gets sleepy.

Betty watches the scene unfold from the row behind. There's no mistaking the way Michelle's head is lolled forward- the other girl is most definitely on her way to dozing off. Beside her, Peter is poking her - presumably in an attempt to get her to stay awake and pay attention - but she swats at his finger, and makes a move to bite it when he persists.

Wisely, he stops.

A few moments pass and Michelle's head lolls forward again, then falls back on Peter's right shoulder when he tries to shift her so that she doesn't fall off her seat entirely.

To his credit, Peter doesn't push her off, but an unsure look crosses his face. Is he going to wake her, or let her sleep? Michelle lets out a little groan and snuggles closer to his neck, into the warmth of his jacket. From what she can see of Peter's side profile, his mouth is twitching.

Trying not to smile, Betty is sure.

 _Too cute_ , she thinks. They almost look like a couple. 

Betty is certain Michelle is drooling on him, but Peter still doesn't wake her up until assembly is over.

At one point, Betty even thinks she sees Peter lean forward and breathe in the scent of her hair. 

**ii**

It's Tuesday when Ned catches Peter staring at Michelle _._

For a moment, Ned thinks that he's wrong and Peter is actually looking out the window because he's impatient for class to end and begin his daily watch as the friendly neighbourhood superhero, but then he takes a second glance and by the third, there's no mistaking it: Peter is staring at Michelle.

A part of him thinks he should be surprised - Peter hasn't expressed an interest in anybody since Liz which is more or less to be expected since sending your would-be girlfriend's father to jail would turn anyone off from romance - but another larger, more forceful part of him thinks,  _yes, yes, this makes_ _sense_.

Which is ridiculous because  _what the hell._ This is Michelle Jones. MJ. Decathlon captain and friend. And Peter Peter. His best friend and Spider-Man. 

It shouldn't make sense.

At. All. 

Except it does. 

Ned might be a bit oblivious at times, but he's not an idiot. He's known for a while now that Michelle had a crush on Peter. No amount of teasing or wry remarks could hide the fact that the only time she smiled -  _really_  smiled - was when Peter is around. Whenever Peter leaves a room she's in, it's like watching a plant wilt...and then shoot venom at everyone else.

It isn't hard to put two and two together.

What  _is_ surprising though is the knowledge that Peter could feel the same way about her.

Ned supposes he should've seen this coming earlier; after all, all the signs were there. The torrent of questions about Michelle (What was her favourite food? Book? Author? Tea?), the fervent glances at her when he thought she wasn't looking- hell, it should've hit him when Peter cancelled plans with him to come over and play video games in favour of joining a protest Michelle was a part of. 

From the corner of his eye, Ned observes Peter and wonders if his best friend even knows that he's staring at Michelle right now. The expression on Peter's face isn't an outright look of adoration or affection- rather, it's a thoughtful expression he's wearing. Peter's forehead is slightly pinched in concentration and his head is tilted on the side as he looks at Michelle, considering.

But considering what?

Ned squints at Michelle, trying to figure out what it is about her that has his friend so raptured.

This is what he sees: Michelle hunched over scribbling notes, her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail as the sun pours over her.

Is that what Peter sees too? 

Or does he see something different?

Probably feeling Peter's gaze on her and Ned's subsequent stare at both of them, Michelle's back stiffens as she lifts up her head and looks around the room for the source of her break in concentration. Ned pretends to jot down a note. Eventually, Ned sees her attention settle on Peter. It's minute, but Ned thinks he sees a pleased expression on her face before it settles into a droll look. 

 _Loser,_ she mouths at Peter when the teacher's back is turned.  _P_ _ay attention_.

A red flush rises up the other boy's neck in response, as if she'd said something else instead.

Interesting.

Michelle returns to her notes, and Peter looks away but a few minutes later, and he's shamelessly staring at her again like he can't help it.

Ned shakes his head to himself, laughing inwardly.

Yes, it definitely makes sense.

A grin spreads its way slowly across his face.

He's going to give  _so_  much shit to Peter about this.

**iii**

Happy is waiting for Parker to arrive at the front of his school when an unknown girl opens the car door and wordlessly slips into the back seat. 

Happy adjusts the rear mirror. The girl and Happy regard each other.

She gives him a peace sign in the mirror. Happy frowns.

"You're not Parker."

"And you're not Tony Stark," the girl returns pleasantly. She pulls out a Virginia Woolf book - _A Room of One's Own_  - from her bag and opens it to a marked page. "Don't mind me, I'm Peter's friend. He said I could come along."

Happy blinks.

"Now hang on just a moment-"

The car door opens again before he can finish his sentence, and Peter is tossing his things onto the backseat. "Sorry Happy, I got kept after class because I was late again but how I supposed to know it was going to take so long to get out of my- wait.  _MJ_? What are you doing here?"

The girl called MJ wriggles her fingers in a hello, then jabs a thumb in Happy's direction. "He invited me."

Happy twists around in his seat and glares at her. "I most certainly did not _._  Parker, what is she doing here?"

"I'm just as confused as you are." Peter turns to the girl. "What  _are_  you doing here?"

"Joining you on your internship, silly. I want to see how the rich and famous live."

Peter and Happy exchange a glance. 

"Mr Stark won't be at my internship today, he's actually out of the country right now. Right, Happy?"

Happy lets out a grunt of agreement.

"Funny, I saw that he was doing a convention in New York today," the girl muses aloud.

"Did I say country? I actually meant building."

"Parker."

"Michelle." 

Happy interrupts.The last thing he wants right now is to be a spectator of teenage verbal foreplay. "Can you hurry up and get your girlfriend out of the car?"

The girl scowls. "He's not my boyfriend."

Parker makes a strange noise at the back of his throat. 

Happy rolls his eyes. Kids _._ "Friend, whatever. I don't care. Get out."

"You know what I think?" she declares, "I think this internship doesn't exists. I think it's a cover for something else and I want to know what it is." She hesitates, then continues. "I know we haven't been friends that long, but we  _are_ friends right? I can keep a secret, you know."

Against his better judgement, there's something earnestly honest about what she says that makes Hogan stop and say, "Look, Parker, clearly this girl isn't going anywhere. Maybe you should just tell-"

"No." Parker's voice is unlike any tone he's heard the kid use before. It's stern. "She stays out of this."

Silence.

"Fine," she says finally, curt. "Be that way." 

Happy coughs. "You know what, I can drop you off at home. If you want."

"That would be nice. Thanks." 

The rest of the ride is spent in silence.

**iv**

Ned says, "There's a girl called Michelle you should probably learn about in advance," and Aunt May doesn't understand what that means until she comes home one evening to what she could only describe as the sound of a screaming match in Peter's bedroom.

She can't make out the words properly since they're all overlapping each other too fast for her to understand but sounds like somebody is being murdered and considering Peter's recreational pastime as a hero dressed as a red and blue spider, the thought isn't as much of a stretch in the imagination as it should be.  

Alarmed, she's getting ready to burst in and act as the perceived Voice of Reason - which even now, she's not sure she's qualified as - when the door opens and a girl steps out.

She looks about Peter's age and has a frown on that May instantly wants to smooth away.

 _Michelle,_  she suddenly remembers out of the blue. This must be Michelle. May isn't sure why she's so certain that it's Michelle, but she knows she isn't wrong.

At the sight of her, Michelle startles and stumbles back. Out of nowhere, Peter is there to keep her steady with one hand on her elbow as the other rests on her lower hip. Michelle squirms and pushes him away, creating a clear space of distance between them.

A hurt look appears on Peter's face that he's makes no secret to disguise.

May feels her heart clench at the sight.  _Oh, Peter._

"Aunt May!" Peter starts when a tense silence settles and it seems clear that Michelle doesn't know what to say. "I didn't know you were back yet."

"Yep, just got home. Um, I brought Thai," May lifts up the bag containing said takeaway food. She glances between Peter and Michelle, the latter of the two determinedly not looking at her nephew. "Will your friend be joining us this evening?"

Michelle shakes her head so furiously, her hair bounces at the motion. "No, I won't. I have things - homework, or-or the like - that I have to get back to." She hoists her bag over her shoulder. "Thank you though. You have a lovely home."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay? It's no trouble at all, there's plenty of food to go around."

"No, I'm sure."

"MJ," Peter says plaintively, trying to catch her eye. "Stay. Please."

"There's something you're not telling me, Parker, and until I know what is I think you should stay away from me," is all she says.

The front door swings shut behind her, and then she's gone.

May speaks. "I take it that's Michelle?"

Peter jolts from whatever he'd been thinking while staring forlornly at the closed door and casts a surprised look at his aunt. "How do you know MJ?"

She raises an eyebrow.

"Right, Ned. Of course." Peter sighs, frustrated. The back of his hair is sticking out the way it does after he takes off his Spider-Man mask. Or when he's run his fingers through it anxiously. A nervous habit. "Yeah. Yeah, that's Michelle. MJ's her nickname. It's what her friends call her. Including me. Her friend."

At the last part, Peter gave a half-hearted kick to the carpeted floor. 

"She seems nice."

Peter's expression is an inscrutable mixture of emotions. "She's...something. She's definitely something." 

May files away his words for future reference.

"Pretty too," she adds. 

"Aunt May."

She laughs, and then her voice softens. "Sounded like quite a fight you were having back there."

"I can't tell her," Peter says suddenly. "About me being Spider-Man, I mean. Not today."

May reaches out to ruffle his hair. "Okay sweetie. Just make sure you tell her when you're ready- I want to be introduced to her properly next time." She winks. "Hopefully as your girlfriend."

" _Aunt May_."

**v**

The seventh time his cell phone rings with Peter Parker's name in flashing neon, Pepper tells him that if he doesn't pick it up, he's sleeping on the couch. Tony stumbles sleepily out into the hallway with one slipper on, the phone pressed to his ear. 

"This better be good, kid," he says, yawning. 

The sound of harsh breathing echoes in his ear in response. 

Not a good sign. 

Tony is suddenly far more wide awake. "Parker? You alright?"

"Mr Stark," Peter says on the verge of tears and  _fuck_ , something is wrong. He sounds wrecked. "Mr Stark, she's hurt."

"Who's hurt?" Tony asks calmly, already preparing to gear up. 

"Michelle," the boy says in a shuddering gasp. The name is familiar. Tony remembers Happy mentioning the name a few weeks ago as someone they might need to keep tabs on. "She wasn't supposed to be here but she followed me and- oh god, there's so much  _blood._ Mr Stark, what do I do? I can't-oh god. Mr Stark,  _help her._ " 

He doesn't hesitate.

"Tell me where you are and tell her to hang tight. I'll be there soon."

An hour later, Michelle is in the guest bedroom while the doctor on his personal call who makes it his business to ask no questions examines her.

"She's going to be fine," Pepper tells Peter gently as he paces back and forth in the living room. It's a wonder he's not leaving tread marks behind on the tile. "The wound isn't deep."

"But she's still hurt," Peter snaps at her.

Instinctively, Tony half-rises from his seat on the defensive, but Pepper grabs onto his arm.  _If Michelle was me, you'd act the same way,_ Pepper's eyes are telling him. Tony sits down again. "There's nothing you could've done, Parker."

"I could've stopped her from getting  _stabbed._ "

"We're superheroes," Tony tells him flatly. "We make enemies out of the bad guys every day. We lose, we win, and sometimes people gets hurt along the way- it's just part of what we do."

Peter has no reply to that. 

The doctor comes out and tells them that she's stable and sleeping. "All she needs for now is rest," he tells them with a smile.

Without a word, Peter immediately heads up to Michelle's room. It's clear that he has no intentions of leaving. 

"He really cares about her, doesn't he?" Pepper asks him, linking her hand with his as they head back to bed.

"It appears so." But because he's Tony, he can't help but add, "We're cuter, though."

The next morning while heading downstairs, Tony hears the two kids talking to each other and pauses at their open door.

Neither of them notice.

"Black Panther is still my favourite," she's saying. There's a light sheen of sweat on her face that Peter is wiping away with a damp towel. It's a sickeningly sweet sight. "Spider-Man might be a close second though."

Peter grins. " _Might_  be? Lucky me."

Michelle lets out a sound that might be a giggle, but then sobers. "Hey, Peter?"

"Mmm?"

"You don't...regret me knowing that you're Spider-Man right?"

"No,  _no._ Of course not. I was just trying to avoid  _this_ ," Peter gestures at the bandaged wound on her stomach. 

Michelle nods, biting her lip. "But now that I'm part of the dream dweeb team, no more secrets, promise?"

"Only if you promise to not follow Spider-Man when he's out fighting the bad guys. The super bad ones, anyway."

"I can't really promise that, but I'll definitely try."

They smile at each other. 

It's evident that this Michelle girl was here to stay, Tony has no doubt about it.

The kid was, for lack of a better word, completely smitten by her.

In retrospect, Tony can see how slow clapping in front of them probably ruined the moment.

 **vi**  

Flash is at the library looking for Michelle so he can apologise to her.

Yeah. Flash apologising.

It's a shock to him too.

He knows what he did today was wrong though and while he's happy to self-proclaim his status as a rich douchebag, Flash is not a jerk.

Well, not a complete jerk anyway.

So, yeah. Whatever. An apology is in order.

He heard from Cindy who heard from Ned that Michelle is in the library so that's why he's here. She's nowhere to be found though, and it's beginning to grate on his nerves. Flash is about to give up when he realises that he can hear her voice behind the shelf in front of him. Flash takes out a few books from the shelf so there's a wide enough gap that he can see the other side.

Flash rolls his eyes when he realises that she's not alone. 

Of  _course_ Parker was with her.

What is he, her personal bodyguard now or something?

"You didn't have to hit him, you know."

Great. Flash sniffs. Even better. They're talking about him.

Flash considers interrupting the conversation, but where would the fun be in that? 

He decides to eavesdrop instead. 

"Trust me, I really did." Parker replies darkly. "He almost tore out your stitches, grabbing you like that."

Flash bristles. How was  _he_ supposed to know that Jones had been injured? It wasn't exactly circulating the gossip mill at school. All he wanted to do was to express his concerns about Peter's constant AWOL status in decathlon meetings. He wouldn't have grabbed her by the waist when she turned away if he knew.

Really.

Michelle echoes his sentiments. "Flash didn't know I was hurt. You're probably going to get detention for a month now, punching him like that. His nose was bleeding all throughout last period."

Peter snorts. "You say it like it's a bad thing."

Michelle sighs, but doesn't correct him. "Did you find the Margaret Atwood book I was after?"

"Yeah, it's over there."

"Wait, where?" Michelle moves to where Peter is gesturing at the top shelf opposite Flash. "Ah, I see it. Well, usually I'd be able to grab it but it looks like you'd have to get it lest my stitches tear as you're constantly reminding me."

"That's what I'm here for," Peter quips.

"Whatever, just get me the book."

Flash wishes he was recording this so he could show everyone how  _whipped_ Parker is _._

Parker takes a step behind Michelle and Flash isn't sure, but the two of them are standing awfully closer than they need to be. Flash watches as Parker pulls the book down with a slow deliberateness, then brace his both his arms on either side of Michelle so she's standing between them.

Michelle and Parker are both facing the shelf in front of them and not each other, but their stance is clearly intimate.

" _The Robber Bride._ This was the one you wanted, right?" the other boy murmurs in a low voice Flash has to strain himself to hear.

"That's the one," Michelle replies primly. "Any reason you have me boxed in like this, Parker?"

"Just thinking."

"About?"

"You."

"Me?" Michelle affects a dramatic gasp. "Why, are you thinking  _dirty thoughts_  about me? In the library? For shame, Parker. For shame."

Even Flash is aware that it's a joke, so it's a surprise when Peter responds by saying, "My imagination only got as far as kissing you right now, actually."

Michelle turns around to face him, and Flash ducks down so she doesn't see him.

"Really?" he hears her ask Parker. "You're thinking about kissing me?"

"Yeah. I mean, obviously. I've been thinking about it for a while now. This is probably going to change everything but- I like you.  _Like_ like you."

 _God_ , Flash thinks,  _was Parker a character in a fucking chick flick?_

"Prove it." Michelle's voice is a dare.

Flash doesn't hear Peter's reply because he's already hauling ass from the library.

He'll apologise tomorrow. 

Clearly, Parker is the only thing on Michelle's mind at the moment. 

**Author's Note:**

> I think I'll chill in this fandom for a bit. Hope you don't mind.


End file.
